Extreme weather – climate change is proving very costly for America
$188 Billion Price Tag: Extreme Weather From 2011 To 2012 The Energy Collective, By Daniel J. Weiss and Jackie Weidman The United States was subjected to many severe climate-related extreme weather over the past two years. In 2011 there were 14 extreme weather events — floods, drought, storms, and wildfires — that each caused at least $1 billion in damage. There were another 11 such disasters in 2012. Most of these extreme weather events reflect part of the unpaid bill from climate change — a tab that will only grow over time.
CAP recently documented the human and economic toll from these devastating events in our November 2012 report “Heavy Weather: How Climate Destruction Harms Middle- and Lower- Income Americans.” Since the release of that report, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, has updated its list of “billion-dollar”-damage weather events for 2012, bringing the two-year total to 25 incidents.
From 2011 to 2012 these 25 “billion-dollar damage” weather events in the United States are estimated to have caused up to $188 billion in total damage. [1] The two costliest events were the September 2012 drought — the worst drought in half a century, which baked nearly two-thirds of the continental United States — and superstorm Sandy, which battered the northeast coast in late October 2012. The four recently added disastrous weather events were severe tornadoes and thunderstorms. Here is an update of vital extreme weather event data after the addition of these four events: Continue reading
How Israel and Australia betrayed Ben Zygier
Ben Zygier didn’t betray his country. Ben Zygier was betrayed. Between his two home countries, he was placed in a situation he couldn’t deal with.
Israel allowed itself to cross three boundaries: a Mossad man was asked to retain Australian citizenship – leading to a dual-loyalty dilemma; the identity that he was instructed to use as a cover was his real Australian identity; and, worst of all, he was sent to operate in his homeland.
The prime minister must send a letter to the Zygier family – that have been broken by their son’s breakdown – saying, “Your son was not a traitor.”.
Ben Zygier was no traitor, he was betrayed, Haaretz, 22 Feb 13, By Sefi Rachlevsky He wanted to contribute to Israel and did not mean to betray both his homelands, or his father for that matter. Israel cast him into a situation from which he could only be liberated by death..
… The fundamentals of its [Israel’s]power have not changed since David Ben Gurion established them: might, the support of friendly powers, the mobilization of world Jewry that can also influence their home countries, and the memory of the Holocaust. But the Zygier affair highlights how in an existential moment, Israel isn’t “only” immoral, but tramples arrogantly over these fundamentals without observing any boundaries…..
Britain’s schools to use crowdfunding to go for solar energy
Crowdfunding Solar Schools In Britain http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3606, 22 Feb 13, Schools in the UK wanting to go solar but that are strapped for cash are able to participate in a new crowdfunding service. Continue reading
Virginia’s Governor McConnell removes incentives for renewable energy
Governor signs repeal of renewable energy incentives By Kathy Adams The Virginian-Pilot February 21, 2013 RICHMOND Gov. Bob McDonnell today signed legislation repealing certain financial incentives for electric utility companies that use renewable energy sources.
The change means utilities, such as Dominion Virginia Power, will no longer be eligible for a bonus for obtaining a certain portion of their energy from renewable sources, such as solar power. Reduced incentives remain for nuclear and off-shore wind power….. Opponents of the repeal, mostly environmental groups such as the Virginia Chapter Sierra Club, argued the law needed to be changed, not done away with altogether. They suggested making participation mandatory and requiring utility companies to obtain their renewable energy from within the state in order to receive the bonus. They’ve pledged to try again next legislative session. Dominion still plans to meet the renewable portfolio standard goals, even without the financial incentive from the state, and is pursing projects to that end, said spokesman Jim Norvelle.
“We believe that renewable energy has a part to play in supplying electricity to our customers,” he said. “We are looking for ways to get on-shore wind generation and we are launching a pilot program to add a large amount of solar-generated electricity to our grid that will begin this year as well.”
Also under consideration is an off-shore wind farm for Virginia Beach and an expansion of Dominon’s nuclear facility in Louisa County, Norvelle said. http://hamptonroads.com/2013/02/governor-signs-repeal-renewable-energy-incentives
Obama close to nominating leaders for energy and climate change
Obama tipped to pick veterans to lead climate, energy push The Age, February 21, 2013 President Barack Obama is close to choosing two veteran Washington policymakers for top energy roles in his Cabinet who would continue many policies on clean energy and air-pollution curbs, according to people familiar with the decisions. Continue reading
USA Department of Defence recognises the long term health effects of ionising radiation
DARPA Seeks to Defuse the Threat of Ionizing Radiation Space Daily, by Staff Writers Washington DC (SPX) Feb 22, 2013
Ionizing radiation can be a silent killer. While scientists have made some strides in preventing immediate death from exposure, there are currently few intervention technologies to protect against long-term morbidity and mortality. In light of the diverse, persistent and substantial threat posed by ionizing radiation, the Department of Defense seeks new ways to protect military and civilian personnel against the immediate and longer-term effects of acute exposure.
Exposure to ionizing radiation would be a particular concern in the aftermath of a large-scale release of nuclear material, such as might occur following either a natural disaster or a deliberate attack.
The damage to Japan’s Fukushima nuclear reactor after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake raised concerns regarding U.S. preparedness to treat large-scale human exposure to ionizing radiation. Additionally, the immediate destructive potential of nuclear and radiological weapons, as well as their long-term health and economic impacts, continue to be of concern to DoD. Continue reading
Obama now has a chance to start cutting nuclear weapons
The search for a nuclear legacy Why Barack Obama may now be able to start cutting nuclear weapons The Economist, Feb
23rd 2013.……..Bruce Blair, co-founder of the Global Zero movement which campaigns for reducing and eventually eliminating nuclear weapons, believes that Mr Obama could set in train a process which would in time also lead to big cuts in the stockpiles of non-strategic and non-deployed nukes. Neither has any military usefulness, but nobody pretends getting there would be easy, particularly as tactical weapons remain more important to Russia—with its comparatively weak conventional forces—than to America.
But the prize for reducing stockpiles would be the chance to draw other nuclear states with much smaller arsenals, such as China, into a multilateral negotiation. That “holy grail”, as Mr Blair calls it, will not be reached, if ever, until well after Mr Obama has gone. But if he could claim to have started the quest, it might be just the legacy he yearns for. http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21572195-why-barack-obama-may-now-be-able-start-cutting-nuclear-weapons-search-nuclear
UK – Scotland Dounreay nuclear fuel to be removed to Sellafield
Published on 22 February 2013
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is to remove the remainder of the nuclear fuel it inherited at Dounreay.
The highly radioactive material, which was among 100 tonnes left by the UK Atomic Energy Agency, is to be taken to Sellafield in Cumbria.
One of Reasons to Stop Using Nuclear Energy before Accidents Stop it.
Sellafield Nuclear Plant is located on the Northwest Coast of England on the Irish Sea. It is a government owned facility that produces about one-fourth of the United Kingdom’s energy. Nuclear waste from this facility had turned the Irish sea into one of the most radioactive bodies of water in the world.
Sellafield discharges two million gallons of radioactive water into the Irish Sea every day at high tide. This includes a cocktail of over 30 alpha, beta and gamma radionuclides. BNFL admits that radioactive discharges in the 1970’s were 100 times those of today. As a result of these discharges, which include around half a tons of plutonium, the Irish Sea has become the most radioactively contaminated sea in the world.
A wide range of fish, shellfish and molluscs continue to show varying degrees of radioactive contamination from Sellafield’s discharges. Cesium-137(half life is 30 years) and Iodine-129(half life is 15.7 million years!) from Sellafield have spread through the Arctic Ocean into the waters of northern Canada and are having a bigger impact on the Arctic than the Chernobyl accident. Sellafield’s gas discharges of Krypton can be measured in Miami.
Greanpeace simulation of radioactive discharge from Sellafield and La Hague reprocessing plants http://archive.greenpeace.org/nuclear/ospar2000/images/content/ospar/model.gif (This link has been removed from the greenpeace site??)
Steven Cowley: Fusion is energy’s future
“….but until the academic world wakes up and realizes billions have been misspent to fulfill the fantasy of re-creating the sun, LENR and Cold Fusion will live in the shadow of false hope.”
“Hot Fusion research is expensive and as seen in the video, most researchers are tremendously close-minded and arrogant when it comes to other sources of fusion.”
Uploaded on Dec 22, 2009
TEDtalksDirector
Physicist Steven Cowley is certain that nuclear fusion is the only truly sustainable solution to the fuel crisis. He explains why fusion will work — and details the projects that he and many others have devoted their lives to, working against the clock to create a new source of energy.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes.
Necessity is truly the mother of invention. Energy drives mankind and fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, will only provide us with about 100 years of energy. Fusion is the answer, but replicating the energy generation of the sun or a star is never going to be practical. Hot Fusion research is expensive and as seen in the video below, most researchers are tremendously close-minded and arrogant when it comes to other sources of fusion.
Cold Fusion is not nonsense; it is simply misunderstand because it requires an open-mind and a multi-disciplined background. The Fleischmann Pons reaction has been replicated thousands of times and several companies are working towards the manufacturing of commercial models. The goal is the same, harnessing the power of fusion, but until the academic world wakes up and realizes billions have been misspent to fulfill the fantasy of re-creating the sun, LENR and Cold Fusion will live in the shadow of false hope.
Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate.
h/t http://ecat.org/
Japan detects xenon 133 in air – Blames North Korea but could the source be a bit closer to home?
Feb. 22, 2013 – 07:05AM JST
Japan Today
TOKYO —
Japanese planes detected a trace amount of xenon-133 during monitoring flights over Japan the day after North Korea carried out its third nuclear test last week, the science ministry said Thursday.
The radioactive material amounting to 1.9 millibecquerels per cubic meter of air was detected from samples collected at an altitude of 300 meters off the coast of Aichi Prefecture in central Japan, Jiji Press reported.
It was the first time Japan had detected xenon-133 since it strengthened radiation monitoring in response to the test on Feb 12, the news agency said.
Xenon-133 is released into the air not just by an atomic explosion but also from nuclear power plants and medical institutions.
(Image is of Fukui Predecture, the home of Japans only working reactors)
Ministry officials quoted by Jiji said they did not know whether the xenon was connected to the North’s underground test.
South Korean warships and air force planes equipped with highly sensitive detection devices were deployed after the blast to try and collect any traces of radioactive fallout.
But Seoul experts said on Feb 14 they had been unable to detect any.
Experts are eager to discover whether the North used highly enriched uranium for its latest test rather than plutonium as in 2006 and 2009.
An enriched uranium program would give the North a new and easier way to produce bomb-making material.
Interesting PDF showing the differing medical isotopes in use on the link below.. Xenon 133 is not listed and is just a by-product of the Fissioning process and could also be a by-product of medical isotopes! Ohi nuclear Plant had a shut down about a couple of weeks ago.. Has this Japanese release been caught by another prefectures monitoring? The locality of the nuclear power plant and the monitoring find is suggestive.
Medical Isotope Production and Use [March 2009] – National Isotope …
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – Quick View
Nuclear reactions result in isotope production. 14N +4He → 17O + … Some of these are important medical isotopes! … Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Japan) …
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